I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

In the following days, while going to work as usual, Yan Jiefang also asked some employees in the workshop for information.

As luck would have it, several of the workers in the workshop happened to be residents of a nearby village.

After learning about his needs, they all introduced him to available rooms and the surrounding area.

This is where reputation and popularity come into play.

After visiting and comparing different options, he chose a house in Dongzhaojia Village. (The name of the house was obtained from research.)

This is a single-story house of about 11 square meters. It's not big, but it's enough for Yan Jiefang to stay in by himself.

Moreover, it is very close to Factory 774, only about one kilometer away, making it very convenient to travel to and from the factory.

Of course, Jiuxianqiao Village is closer, but unfortunately, houses there are in high demand, and there are currently no vacant rooms available for rent.

Yan Jiefang had no choice but to settle for second best.

The rent for private housing is naturally higher than that for subsidized public housing, with the monthly rent generally around 0.3 yuan per square meter.

After negotiating with the landlord, Yan Jiefang rented the property for 3.3 yuan per month.

However, he does not intend to stay here permanently.

After all, this place is a bit far from Factory 774.

If there are any vacant houses in Jiuxianqiao Village, he will definitely move there.

After taking care of this matter, Yan Jiefang finally had some free time.

When he got home, Liu Ruyan, who was cooking, immediately took a break to pour him water and make him tea.

As Yan Jiefang sipped his tea, he suddenly noticed that the mahogany eight-immortal table in front of him was a bit too conspicuous.

His expression changed, realizing that this was no ordinary time and that he had to be very careful about many things.

I glanced at the time; it was already past 6 o'clock.

He decided to store the mahogany furniture in the space tonight.

I'll go to the department store tomorrow to buy some furniture to use for now.

Anyway, he won't be high-profile for the next ten years; he'll just have to get through it quietly.

After finishing his business that evening, Yan Jiefang said solemnly to Liu Ruyan, who was slumped on the bed:

"Ruyan, the situation has changed a bit. Our furniture is too eye-catching. I'll go and deal with it later."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan's expression changed.

"Liberation, is this a very serious matter?"

Yan Jiefang frowned slightly:

"Whether it's serious or not isn't up to me to decide, but I'm afraid some people who are jealous of our family's good conditions might report us."

As he spoke, he reassured the other person:

"This matter is very easy to handle now, so don't worry."

You must be tired, go to sleep early.

I've already contacted someone, and they can get the things in the living room and the other room sorted out tonight. They'll come and deal with this room tomorrow.

"Um."

Liu Ruyan greatly admired Yan Jiefang's abilities and believed he could handle the situation well. In addition, she was exhausted just now and fell asleep shortly afterward.

Seeing this, Yan Jiefang waited a while before carefully climbing out of bed, getting dressed, and then turning off the lights and closing the door of the room before going outside.

Organizing these pieces of furniture was a piece of cake for Yan Jiefang, who had plenty of space.

Within minutes, he had taken away almost all the conspicuous furniture and appliances.

The only electric fans left are a modified floor fan in the room and a ceiling fan in the living room.

He took away all the mahogany furniture outside, including the eight-immortal table, five-drawer chest, and standing cabinet, and placed the items that were originally inside these furniture pieces on the bed board next to them.

We just need to arrange the furniture we bought later before putting it in.

The next morning, after getting up, Liu Ruyan looked at the empty room and felt a little empty inside.

Yan Jiefang patted her head and said with a relaxed expression:

"I'll take the afternoon off and buy all the furniture, then everything will be fine."

Liu Ruyan leaned against his chest and responded softly:

"Um."

...

Yan Jiefang was very efficient. That afternoon, he took Yan Jiekuang to a department store and bought a whole set of brand-new solid wood furniture.

After he started working, he already had two industrial vouchers every month. In addition, he borrowed some from colleagues, classmates, and senior students, so it was easy for him to collect all the vouchers.

Buying a set of furniture is much easier for them than for most people.

Seeing so much new furniture coming into the house, Liu Ruyan, who was initially feeling a bit down, immediately broke into a bright smile.

The mother-in-law, who was watching from the side, couldn't be more satisfied with Yan Jiefang as her son-in-law.

My daughter is truly blessed to have married such a young man.

After knocking Liu Ruyan down again that night, Yan Jiefang replaced all the furniture in the last room.

At this point, it was virtually impossible to find any weaknesses in him.

If anyone dares to nitpick again, then we can only ask them to die of a stroke to help Liu Guangtian improve his performance.

A few days later, it happened to be the weekend.

Yan Jiefang specifically asked Yan Jiedi to call Yan Jiekuang over to have lunch together.

At the dinner table, he asked the third son:

"Jie Kuang, have you ever thought about working in a factory?"

This year, Factory 774 has several major projects planned, which will create a small number of opportunities to recruit workers from outside the factory.

"If you want to work in the factory, go back to the old man and change your age. I'll try to find a place for you."

Yan Jiekuang raised his head and asked in surprise:

"Second brother, is this really okay? Won't it leave any hidden dangers?"

The other people at the table also looked over.

Yan Jiefang nodded affirmatively:

"No problem at all."

Humans are social beings, and as long as the benefits are sufficient, it is quite normal to engage in certain practices within the rules.

Yan Jiefang isn't some kind of moral exemplar, so he doesn't feel any guilt about doing things this way.

If someone wants to trip someone up, then he should let the other person become the tripper first.

For people of this era, labor is the most honorable thing. If there is a job to do, no one wants to be idle at home for a long time.

After "graduating" from junior high school and realizing that his path to further education was over, Yan Jiekuang had long wanted to work in a factory.

He immediately finished the rice in his bowl and put down his chopsticks.

"Second brother, I've finished eating. I'm going back to find the old man now."

The Yan family, consisting of Yan Bugui and his wife, and Yan Jiecheng and his wife, were sitting around the table eating steamed buns made from two kinds of flour and pickled vegetables.

Yan Jiekuang rushed in and pulled Yan Bugui up:

"Dad, I need to talk to you about something. Let's go outside."

Yan Bugui was pulled and stumbled:

"Hey, wait a minute, I haven't finished my meal yet!"

As he spoke, he casually took his own steamed bun made from two kinds of flour, not wanting to leave a single piece behind.

The two stood under the covered walkway, and Yan Jiekuang recounted what had happened.

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up: "Great job! As long as Yan Jiekuang goes to work, he can get a commission just like Yan Jiecheng!"

He nodded immediately:

"Okay, let's go to the neighborhood office to change our age tomorrow!"

(According to the data, Factory 774 did have thousands of new and vacant positions in 1966, but the vast majority of these positions were allocated to college and vocational school graduates, demobilized soldiers, and skilled workers transferred within the system. Only a very small number of positions were open to external recruitment, which required the use of connections and resources to obtain.)